Story+1984-09-25+Buffalo,+NY

´´Well, this is a song about, uh....family and uh....responsobility, I guess, and duty....what happens when those two things....confront.....”
 * 25.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Highway Patrolman´**

´´This song, this is a song about....ancient history....it begins when I was but a small lad.... many years ago....and before I wanted to play the guitar, there was only one other thing that I wanted to be....a lover....no, I wanted to be a baseball player....you know, I used to go to bed at night and dream, you know, it was the bottom of the 9th the World Series....I was up there at the plate....that was my style....and, anyway I started, I took the normal route, I was a little kid, I was in Colonial League, then I was in Little League....then I was in Babe Ruth League ....when I was about 15....but around 15, I got interested in a couple of other things....now, one was the guitar....and the other one....the guitar was the one that I became proficient at.... then the other one, I´m still looking for some help to practise, practise, practise....but anyway ....it didn´t use to be too bad because we used to play the baseball games during the week and then we used to have the rock´n´roll gigs on the weekend.....but one day we had a game that got rained out....and they rescheduled it for like Saturday morning 8 o´clock so like I´m in bed, I just, you know, was out late the night before and I hear the guys knocking on my door...and I tell my mother, you know, I said ´Mom, go down and tell those guys, like, tell ´em I´m sick, tell ´em I´m too sick to go, I caught a virus, I can´t play ball today´...she goes ´Ok´ so she goes down, she opens the door and I hear her....´Oh, boys, Bruce is too sick, he can´t come today´...and so they, you know, they go away....but about 20 minutes later, they come back....and I hear ´em, they´re at the frontdoor and they´re going like ´oh, Mrs. Springsteen, please, please, Bruce´s gotta come, we´ve only got 8 guys and if he don´t come, we´re gonna forfit the game, it´s gonna ruin the whole season....he´s gotta show´....so my mother sends ´em upstairs....now I gotta really make believe like I´m sick, you know.... laying there in my bed....I always sleep with my guitar....my girlfriends, they don´t like it but they get used to it after a while....so now I gotta make believe like I´m sick, I´m coughing (coughs) and making all these noises but they´re begging me and begging me to get up and I´m one of them people like when somebody starts begging me to do something I can never say no....you know if somebody comes, if somebody asks me for 25 cents on the street, I always give it to ´em....but I get up, I put my uniform on, we go down to the field....I get out in the rightfield, my normal position....and I´m standing there and....it´s not too bad, the weather´s kind of nice and....I´m out there and it´s the bottom of the 8th and....you know, it´s a big (?) ´cause there´s not too many....we´re ahead by one run....but as I´m out there in rightfield....I start daydreaming a little bit....and there´s a girl...she´s climbing over the outfield fence....she´s coming closer....she says ´It´s too hot to wear that baseball uniform´.... we lay down in the grass....then all of a sudden gsshhhh....got it, got it....I dropped the ball, the runner scored, we lost the game, I suffered defeat and humiliation in front of my peers.... that´s when I decided to give up my sports career and dedicate the rest of my life to rock´n´ roll....so let´s get on with it....”
 * 25.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Take it easy, guys.... now, this is a song....about the conflict....between worldly things and spiritual health....between desires of the flesh....and spiritual ecstasy....it´s a song about temptation....everybody´s been tempted....and almost everybody has succumbed....now where did all this begin ?.....well, it began in the Garden of Eden....now, the Garden of Eden was originally believed to have been located in the Middle East....but the latest theological studies have found that its actual location was ten miles south of Jersey City off the New Jersey Turnpike....in an area that is now....located as Happy Dan´s Celebrity Used Car Lot ... now before this tour I made a spiritual journey to Happy Dan´s and he explained to me ´Son, ....if you wanna get to the bottom of all this, you gotta begin in the beginning....now, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth....and then on the first day, He separated the light from the darkness and He called the light the day and He called the darkness the night....and then on the second day, He grew hot....and so He created air-conditioning....now, according to the temperature in here....that hasn´t made its way to Buffalo yet !....(?)...He sat back and He said ´This is good´...then on the third day, He grew hungry and He created some of them chicken wings !....and the Lord sat back and said ´Ooh, this is hot !´...on the fourth day He created rock and roll ....and the Lord sat back and said ´This is good´...then on the fifth day, it was Friday night coming up on the weekend....the Lord got bored so He decided to take his baby for a drive and He created the pink Cadillac... and the Lord sat back and said ´This .... is...wild´....”
 * 25.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´**

´´I remember that we swore on it...and we made a promise that....you said that if you got out first, you´d help me....and if I got out first, I´d help you....and we swore on it....that it´d be forever....forever and forever....and it´d last forever and forever....then you said it was nothing but a promise....how it was nothing....but a promise....”
 * 25.09.84 Buffalo, NY, middle of ´Backstreets´**

´´Oh, give me a little volume, Jim....here´s for all the kids from Red Bank out there.... (....) Ladies and gentlemen....we´ve now come to the most exciting part of the show....this is the chance that I get to introduce my pals and my band members of the E Street Band....now, first, I would like to introduce the newest member of the E Street Band....comes to you from South Jersey...Jim the Dancing Bear...don´t worry, ladies and gentlemen, he´s completely docile....and next, to my far left, a man who gave up a scholarship to Harvard University where he was working on his PhD in unusual sexual practises to join this tour with the E Street Band....he´s the educated, he´s the dedicated, he´s the one, the only member of the band with a full high school diploma, ´Professor´ Roy Bittan....next, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....from Long Branch, New Jersey, lovely Miss Patti Scialfa .... and then the man who puts the bass in your face with the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass guitar....on the drums we have an author ´The Big Beat´, ´The Mighty´ Max Weinberg....and next....a gentleman who´s celebrating this week his 15th anniversary as a member of the E Street Band ....let´s hear it for him, folks, and Dan, to show my appreciation, bring out the gifts (?) ....for 15th years of dedicated service, a portable hairdryer....and two tickets to tonight´s show....and next....we have a man as sweet as life itself, he works the entire night without a net, drumroll please....the one, the only Mr. Nils Lofgren on the guitar (Nils : ´This is for you and the E Street Band´ and then he does his trampoline stunt)....and next, ladies and gentlemen....a man, who tonight we´re gonna put his name in for the nomination to be the next president of the United States....it´s time there was a Big Man in the White House....and there´s just one thing I wanna know....who´s the man whose cool just grows and grows ? ....who´s the man whose (?) comes and goes ?....who´s the man who´s the apple of my eye ? ....who´s the man that, though he´s the king of the world, is just a regular kind of guy ?.... who´s the guy that´s everything near and dear to me ?....who´s owed me a 100 bucks since 1963 ?.....that´s right, ´The Big Man´ Clarence Clemons on the saxophone....”
 * 25.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Rosalita´**

´´I´d like to thank everybody coming down to these shows that we did here in Buffalo....this is uh....when I was a kid, the first thing that ever really meant anything to me was when I heard the music of Elvis Presley...and uh....I guess it kind of came down into my house where....I didn´t grow up in a house where there was a lot of books and there was a lot of pictures and things where....that´d open up your mind a little bit....and that´s where, I guess that´s what he did for me....helped me dream a little bit bigger than may be I normally would have....I´ve been real fortunate, you know, I´m a fortunate son ´cause I get to live a piece of my dream every night...so here´s hoping that you get, you get to live a little piece of yours, fight for it....”
 * 25.09.84 Buffalo, NY, intro to ´Born to Run´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//